Dante
Dante (ダンテ) is a fictional character and the primary protagonist of the ''Devil May Cry'' series of video games created and published by Capcom. Dante has been featured as a playable character in all the games of the series. The character also appears in several Devil May Cry novels and manga volumes, and is featured in a 2007 anime TV series. Dante is a mercenary and demon hunter dedicated to exterminating them and other malevolent supernatural foes, a mission he follows in pursuit of those that killed his mother and corrupted his brother. He is the son of Sparda, a demon of great power that rebelled against the demon emperor and defeated his army. As a result of his demonic heritage, he possesses numerous powers beyond that of any human, which he uses in combination with a variety of weapons to accomplish his goals. The character was designed to fit Devil May Cry game developer Hideki Kamiya's vision of a "cool and stylish" man, and his personality was based on the titular character of the manga series Cobra. Dante has been well received by gamers and critics alike. Characteristics Dante is a mercenary who specializes in paranormal cases, preferring those that call for demon slaying. He is muscular, has white/silver hair, icy-blue eyes and is usually seen wearing red dusters/trench coats. Dante's arsenal usually consists of firearms and melee weapons, including "Ebony and Ivory", twin handguns that never need reloading, as well as a variety of swords such as the "Rebellion" and "Force Edge", Devil Arms created by his father. The guns are handmade with "For Tony Redgrave, By.45 Art Warks" written on them (Tony Redgrave is the alias used by Dante). He possesses superhuman strength and agility, as a result of his half-demon heritage. This gives him the ability to enter a heightened state called "Devil Trigger". In this state, Dante possesses greater strength and speed, his health regenerates at a steady pace, and further abilities with his equipped melee weapon, including flight. Dante is confident in his encounters with opponents, and frequently taunts boss characters before battling them. With the exception of Devil May Cry 4, Dante says the phrase "Devils never cry" in every game, implying that no matter how much of a demon he may prove to be, his ability to cry makes his human side precious to him. Dante is one of the twin sons of Sparda, the demon knight who sided with humanity and drove back an invasion of the human world by demons 2,000 years ago. After Sparda's death, Dante and his twin brother Vergil were raised by their human mother, Eva. When Dante and Vergil were children, the family was attacked by demons, resulting in Eva's death. This event led to Dante's commitment to hunting demons in pursuit of those that killed his mother. Appearances ''Devil May Cry'' games In the original ''Devil May Cry'', Dante is hired by Trish, a mysterious woman who looks similar to his deceased mother, to stop the return of the devil king Mundus. However, she is actually setting up events for Mundus' agents to kill Dante as he makes his way to Mundus himself. During the course of the game Dante is also reunited with his brother Vergil, who, under the control of Mundus, attempts to kill him. Trish eventually betrays Mundus to save Dante, and the pair work together to lock Mundus in the demon world. Afterwards, they become partners in Dante's demon-slaying business, now renamed "Devil Never Cry". After the success of the first game, Capcom immediately began development of its sequel, ''Devil May Cry 2''. For this game, Dante is shown to have a habit of flipping a coin to make his decisions, although it is revealed at the end of the game that both sides of the coin are heads. Set some time after the first game, Devil May Cry 2 focuses on aiding the character Lucia in defeating Arius, an international businessman who uses demonic power and seeks to conquer the world. At the end of the game, Dante must go into the demon world to stop a demon lord from escaping, but the gate closes behind him and he is trapped. With no way back to the human world, Dante heads even deeper into the demon world on his motorcycle. The third game, ''Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening'', serves as a prequel to the first game and features a cockier, teenage Dante. He has considerably more dialogue during cutscenes, and players can verbally taunt monsters during gameplay. In the story, Dante is drawn out by his brother Vergil, who is attempting to reopen the portal to the demon world in order to obtain the full power of Sparda, which remains on the other side contained within the sword Force Edge. Along the way, Dante encounters Lady, who is in pursuit of her father Arkham, who is working with Vergil, but has plans of his own. In the end, Dante claims ownership of the Force Edge, while Vergil chooses to remain in the demon world. Dante matures considerably during the game and, inspired by Lady's courage and commitment to her own family, continues his software business with a greater sense of purpose. They become friends, and he decides to call his shop "Devil May Cry", after something Lady had said to comfort him. Released in 2008, ''Devil May Cry 4'' in the series chronology, takes place after Devil May Cry, but before Devil May Cry 2. It is the first game in the series not to feature Dante as the primary character. Dante is seen as an antagonist by the game's lead character, Nero. Shortly after the halfway point in the game, player control switches to Dante, until he rescues Nero, who the player then uses for the game's final showdown. The fifth game of the Devil May Cry franchise, ''DmC: Devil May Cry'', was announced at the Tokyo Game Show 2010, featuring an alternative universe Dante with a very different appearance. His coat is not long, only coming down to his lower-back, his hair is shorter and is black with a white patch in the upper back (his hair was however seen turning fully white while in a Devil Trigger-like state during a second trailer featuring the work-in-progress gameplay). In the newest game-play trailer, Dante has been featured without the white spot in the back of his hair, but his devil trigger remains the same. Dante is featured as a teenager who is attacked by a seemingly sentient town known as Limbo City populated by demons. Other appearances Dante has playable appearances in several games outside of the Devil May Cry series of games. In the Viewtiful Joe series, also created by Hideki Kamiya, he is playable in the PlayStation 2 version of ''Viewtiful Joe'' and the PSP version of ''Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble''. In both games, he frequently has dialogue with Alastor, who is revealed to be the embodiment of the identically-named sword from Devil May Cry. Dante is also seen in the last panel of Jedah's ending in ''Capcom Fighting Jam''. He appears as an enemy and optional ally in the North American/Maniax (director's cut) release of ''Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne''. There is a Dante character card in ''SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters DS''. He makes his second fighting game appearance as a playable character in ''Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds'', wearing his Devil May Cry 3 outfit. He was also set to appear in ''Soulcalibur III'', but did not make it into the final game. He was confirmed to appear as a playable character in the upcoming tactical role-playing game ''Project X Zone''. Dante is a playable character in ''PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale''. Dante also appears in many other pieces of media based on the video games. These include two light novels, the Devil May Cry 3 manga, a comic of the first game published by Dreamwave Productions, and an anime called ''Devil May Cry: The Animated Series''. The popularity of the Devil May Cry series lead to a line of Devil May Cry action figures produced by Toycom. Japanese company Kaiyodo produced a similar line for Devil May Cry 2 and a Devil May Cry 3 Dante action figure. Concept and design Dante debuted in Devil May Cry, a game originally intended to be a part of Capcom's ''Resident Evil'' franchise. Series' creator Hideki Kamiya has said that the titular character from the manga series ''Cobra'' by Buichi Terasawa served as the basis for Dante's personality. Kamiya based his idea of Dante on what he perceived as "Stylish" – wearing a long coat to make the character "showy" and a non-smoker, as Kamiya saw that as more cool. The character wears red because in Japan it is a traditional color for a heroic figure. Kamiya has also stated he perceives Dante as "a character that you would want to go out drinking with", someone who was not a show-off but would instead "pull some ridiculous, mischievous joke" to endear people to him. He added that this aspect was intended to make the character feel familiar to audiences. In the prequel game Devil May Cry 3, Dante's attitude was emphasized to reflect a younger and more arrogant character than in previous installments. The Devil Trigger forms for Dante was designed by Kazuma Kaneko. Devil May Cry 4's producer Hiroyuki Kobashi noted prior to the release of that game that they wanted to make Dante seem significantly more powerful than the game's other protagonist, Nero. This was done in order to create an evident difference between the strength of a "veteran" when compared to a "rookie". Another reason for this portrayal is based on the series' continuity, which dictated that Dante display the power he would possess after the events of the first game and its prequel, Devil May Cry 3. For DmC: Devil May Cry, the fifth game in the series, Dante was completely redesigned as a result of comments by the Capcom staff. Dante's original design was originally meant to be similar to the ones from previous games, but Capcom told the Ninja Theory staff it had to be completely different in order to appeal to a younger demographic. While the original Dante was designed from a Japanese perspective, the new one was made from a Western perspective. Despite knowing that they would receive negative fan feedback, the decision was made to reshape his character. After several drafts of Dante's new character, the designers settled on a look as inspired by Christopher Nolan's film ''The Dark Knight''. Tameem Antoniades from Ninja Theory stated that Dante is about "being cool and making you feel cool when you're playing it," and, as such, they felt that his attire from previous games would be found comical in real life. Antoniades responded to criticism stating they would not change it as it is supposed to fit within the game's setting. Reception Dante's confident and fearless attitude has gained him widespread popularity. In 2001, Game Informer described him as "one of the most bad-ass characters around," citing the contrast between his character and those previously seen in the Resident Evil series. His design and personality received praise from numerous reviews, such as IGN, who referred to him as "a dark antihero kind of guy even a down-in-the-dumps, disgruntled teenager would love." GameSpy described his appearance as "awe-inspiring to look at", feeling his attire was reminiscent of Vincent Price. In Devil May Cry 2, Dante's cocky attitude was largely absent, which was one of the main criticisms of the game. Fan reaction to the new design of Dante in DmC: Devil May Cry was originally negative, although it has turned more positive. Power grid Category:Male Category:Hero Category:Games Category:PlayStation Category:Attractive Male Category:Capcom Category:Characters